Norway’s responsibility to future generations
BLURB: Norway’s Future Panel, comprising 56 citizens selected through a representative process, formally demanded a legal framework – including a dedicated commissioner – to safeguard future generations
Published: 04:09 PM,Sep 28,2025 | EDITED : 08:09 PM,Sep 28,2025
Over the first four months of 2025, 56 Norwegian citizens convened to discuss how Norway’s immense oil wealth can best serve current and future generations, both domestically and globally.
Unlike traditional policymaking, where elected officials and experts call the shots, this so-called Future Panel – the second such assembly held in Norway – allowed ordinary citizens, selected through a representative process and equipped with the necessary knowledge, to craft recommendations through informed debate.
The Panel was established by seven civil-society organisations – WWF Norway, Save the Children Norway, Caritas Norway, Framtiden i våre hender (The Future in Our Hands), the Norwegian Children and Youth Council, and the think tank Langsikt – to conduct a fact-based public discussion about Norway’s wealth. Its remit is to amplify the people’s voice on this highly important topic before the general election in September.
By embracing a more radical model of deliberative democracy that focuses on the long-term collective good rather than short-term political interests, Norway is setting a precedent for other countries. Perhaps more importantly, when presenting its recommendations to the Norwegian parliament on May 13, the Future Panel formally demanded a legal framework – including a dedicated commissioner – to safeguard future generations. If enacted, it would demonstrate that grassroots advocacy can bring about a paradigm shift in governance.
I experienced the potential of this shift firsthand as the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, which passed the Well-being of Future Generations Act in 2015. The law requires public bodies to consider the long-term consequences of their decisions, ensuring that sustainability and intergenerational justice are embedded in policymaking.
The act was the result of a year-long national conversation – another deliberative democratic process. In 2014, the Welsh government asked its citizens to discuss what kind of country they wanted to leave behind for their children and grandchildren. Their answers helped shape the legislation’s seven long-term well-being goals, which serve as a north star for policymakers.
Momentum for such legislation is growing globally. In September, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Declaration on Future Generations that encourages governments to institutionalise long-term thinking.